After the closed Golden Corral comes down along Beach Boulevard near the Regal theaters, a shopping center will go up in its place.
Owner John Cothran plans to build a 15,100-square-foot multitenant retail center that should open in early 2016.
The city issued a demolition permit Wednesday for the almost 9,900-square-foot Golden Corral building.
Cothran, based in South Carolina, said he bought the 1.6-acre property 16 years ago when Golden Corral was building there and did a sale-leaseback. When the restaurant closed, it was on the market but three sales contracts didn’t work out, he said.
“It’s such a great location,” Cothran said.
The property is in front of the 18-screen Regal Cinemas Beach Boulevard, next to Suni Pines Boulevard.
Cothran expects some letters of intent soon, including from a restaurant that wants 5,000 square feet at one end so it could have a drive-thru. He declined to identify prospective tenants.
A formal name for the project has not been chosen.
The architect is Jacksonville-based Dasher Hurst Architects. Dasher Hurst said the center includes the 5,000-square-foot restaurant space and six 1,600-square-foot tenant spaces that can be combined as needed.
Mark Farrell, founder of Killashee Investments, is representing Cothran as the leasing broker and will manage the property when it opens.
“We’re getting a lot of activity,” Farrell said. He is talking to several large restaurant users, as well as other retailers.
“A restaurant there makes a lot of sense,” he said, because of the nearby theater.
A contractor will be chosen when the plans are completed.
Golden Corral Corp. bought the property in January 1999 and sold it to Cothran the following June. The restaurant closed in April 2014.
Architects chosen for Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
Baptist Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced Thursday they will work with HKS Architects Inc. and FreemanWhite to design the new Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jacksonville.
The more than 200,000-square-foot center will be built on two blocks bordered by San Marco Boulevard, Children’s Way, Gary Street and Palm Avenue, across the street from the Baptist Outpatient Center. The project cost has not been determined. It should open in 2018.
“The new Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center will be part of the Southbank skyline, visible from I-95, and a symbol of our powerful commitment to bring a new level of cancer care to our region,” said Hugh Greene, Baptist Health president and CEO, in a news release.
In anticipation of that, Baptist will launch the joint cancer program with MD Anderson in October in the Baptist Outpatient Center. That will serve as the initial home of Baptist MD Anderson.
HKS Architects Inc. is an international company with an office in Orlando. FreemanWhite is part of the Jacksonville-based Haskell Co. dedicated to health care projects.
The two firms collectively have designed almost 140 cancer centers. HKS is designing an expansion of the MD Anderson center in Houston.
Baptist MD Anderson will offer cancer care for adult patients throughout the region. The release said the same cutting-edge technology, multidisciplinary approach and leading cancer care that are available in Houston will be delivered at Baptist MD Anderson in Jacksonville.
The design process for the new facility will begin this month and is expected to be completed by February.
It also will feature a dedicated 500-car parking garage and valet service.
ULI wants award entries
Urban Land Institute North Florida wants entries for its 2015 Awards for Excellence.
The district council covers 34 counties from Flagler to Escambia, including Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee and Pensacola.
Award categories are in reuse/repurpose; public sector/open space/nonprofit; Downtown; and interiors. The projects need to have been completed in the past three years within the district.
The entry fee is $200 for public sector projects and $500 for private sector projects. The entry deadline is Aug. 31.
ULI North Florida also will announce the 2015 Visionary Leader award. Past recipients include University of North Florida President John Delaney, a former mayor; Haskell Co. founder Preston Haskell; and former ULI Chairman Peter Rummell, a Jacksonville-based developer.
The 2014 winners were the New Town Success Zone in the Downtown Sector; Mellow Mushroom for Private Sector; Cascades Park in the Public/Open Space Category; and the St Augustine Distillery and Ice Plant for the Reuse/Repurpose Sector. The awards will be presented Oct. 1.
More information is at northflorida.uli.org.
Native Sun to open store in September
Native Sun Natural Foods Market said it expects to open its Jacksonville Beach location Sept. 4 in North Beach Village.
The new store, at Third Street and 15th Avenue North, will be the third location for the Jacksonville-based grocer. Its others are at 10000 San Jose Blvd., which was the first, and at 11030 Baymeadows Road. They’re open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
Jacksonville-based Native Sun, a natural and organic grocer, was founded in 1996.
SunTrust Tower garage opens
Cushman & Wakefield said the six-story, 600-space SunTrust Tower parking garage opened July 1 at 37 S. Hogan St.
It sits next to the 23-floor SunTrust Tower, which was sold for $31 million in April to a joint venture of Mainstreet Capital Partners and CarVal Investors.
Mainstreet President Paul Kilgallon said in a news release the opening is a watershed moment for Downtown and the tower.
“We’re all-in on Jacksonville’s Downtown revitalization efforts. This garage will help alleviate the current dearth of parking while reinforcing SunTrust Tower’s long-standing reputation as a Jacksonville landmark,” he said.
Construction took 19 months. The garage will be used by SunTrust Tower tenants, Downtown visitors, and customers of The Jacksonville Landing.
It is accessible at Bay and Hogan streets and later will offer ground-floor retail.
The city gave $3.5 million in incentives to the project in exchange for the public use of 200 spaces on weekdays and 375 spaces on weekends. A reserved space in the garage is expected to cost $155 per month with unreserved spaces priced at $115 per month.
Cushman & Wakefield Senior Director Traci Jenks, exclusive leasing agent for SunTrust Tower, said the “garage will fill a huge need for businesses, which are increasingly moving Downtown, and is a catalyst for more development.”
The 369,408-square-foot, Class A SunTrust Tower is 58 percent leased.
Pattillo pays $3.7M for distribution center
Pattillo Industrial Real Estate paid almost $3.68 million Wednesday for a distribution center within the Westside Industrial Park.
Pattillo, through WS8000 LLC, bought a 79,500-square-foot warehouse on 8.96 acres at 8000 Forshee Drive. Jack Leasing LLC of Harrisburg, Pa., sold the property. Jack Leasing’s address is that of D&H Distributing Co., whose co-presidents comprise Jack Leasing.
The structure was built in 2004 and is assessed at $2.94 million for tax purposes in Duval County.
Pattillo is the developer of the Westside Industrial Park. Pattillo Industrial Real Estate Vice President Peter Anderson said Thursday the company built the structure for D&H Distributing.
He said Pattillo likes the building because of its 30-foot clearance, fire protection sprinkler system and that it can be expanded by 40,000 square feet.
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